Laugh Through the Pain
by babycakesbriauna
Summary: They'd had a plan. She was going to have a natural birth,but they're smushy baby was just as stubborn as they were,so the plan changed. A companion piece to "Superpower".


AN: This is a companion piece to Superpower. If you haven't read it, that's fine. However, it can provide more background information. This was based off an AU gifset on tumblr made by lovepollution. Happy Reading

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"Liv, you are supposed to be in bed. That's why they call it 'bed rest'," Fitz said as he walked into the room.

Olivia sighed and looked back at him over her shoulder. "I know, but she should be home any minute."

"So this is what life will be like when we move to Vermont," Fitz hummed.

"Oh don't act like you won't spend your free time worrying over all the kids, or me for that me. I can see you perched at the window,waiting for my car to pull into the yard. Before I even make it to the door,you'll be greeting me with "Welcome Home,Livvie". "

"I'll give you that one,"He dragged a chair over to her. "Well at least sit," he insisted.

She complied and resumed her watchful perch. Ella was out at her first sleep over since she'd moved in with her godparents. After James' tragic death in a head on collision , and Cyrus' second heart attack the, young girl needed some stability. It was decided that she'd move with Fitz and Liv.

The couple welcomed the young girl with open arms , and Teddy loved having his playmate live with them. Teddy was in their playroom waiting on Ella's return. It was Sunday evening , and Ella had been gone since Friday after she got out of school. Although Olivia was feeling much more secure about Ella leaving for an extended period of time, she still feared something out of her control would cause a setback. While it was unknown how long Ella would reside with them, Olivia still loved the young girl as if she'd birth her.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Fitz said, breaking her thoughts, as he knelt down beside her chair.

"About how as soon as Ella gets home I'm going to lay down on the floor so you can roll me down to the kitchen to eat," Olivia declared, making Fitz laugh

. "Liv you aren't that big considering that you are having twins."

"I'll tell you what my dear husband ; after these babies are out of me, I am going to send one of my agents the supermarket , and I'm going to have him buy two watermelons, then I'm going to strap them to you, and make you walk around like that for a few months. Then I'll ask you if you don't feel like a cow."

"Cranky pants," he said as he stood up from his crouching position and kissed the top of her head.

"You'd be cranky too if you hadn't gotten laid in over a month," Olivia whined. "Wait…you better be cranky for that same reason too," She said giving him the evil eye.

"Okay Sybil," he said chuckling under his breath as he walked out of the room.

She rolled her eyes at his implication that she multiple personalities and turned back towards the door. Just as she did , she heard Ella's voice from the halls. She let out a huge sigh of relief that she didn't even realize she had been holding and awkwardly got up out of the chair.

When she finally got , Ella was already at the door. Ella ran towards Olivia and threw her arms around Olivia, and Liv hugged her as tight as she could.

"Did you have fun, sweetheart?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, Auntie Liv. We took a cooking class and then we went to the zoo. Guess what, I saw a giraffe. ," she informed Olivia.

"Well sounds like you had a great time. Say goodbye to Uncle John, and then you can go find Teddy and Uncle Tripp."

After she said goodbye to her her and ran off , Olivia turned towards John. "So, how was it?" Olivia asked.

"All I can say, Liv, is thanks. I realized this weekend just how much I have missed out on while James was alive, and I am so grateful that you and I were able to work together so that I have the chance to try to make things right with my niece and be a part of her life." His words shocked Liv still, even though she knew he was really trying. There had been animosity between the two siblings. This was a way for him to right his wrongs.

"No problem," she said, offering him a small, yet sincere, smile. "I guess I'll see you in two weekends."

"I'll be there."

He turned to go but she called out to him. "Hey John?"

"Yes?" he said turning towards her again.

"If you ever had something in mind during the week, that would get her home early enough to get to bed for school of course, I would be willing to work things out."

He looked at her a little shocked, before smiling sincerely at me. "Thanks Olivia, that really means a lot."

And with that he turned and walked to leave the residence. She turned around to find Fitz leaning against the doorway.

"That was nice of you," he said.

"Yeah, well…," she drifted off, not really completing her sentence but definitely her thought.

Fitz smiled and walked towards Olivia. "Come on, lay down so I can roll you into the kitchen now and feed you." Olivia set the next week nesting. She had already put herself on maternity Harrison at the helm, OPA was in good hands. Much to her surprise, Abby volunteered to handle the role of First Lady once she gave birth. With Abby having watched Olivia find balance between OPA, FLOTUS, and Fitz's advisor, she knew her friend could tackle the job. When the twins got a little older, the couple had discussed hiring someone to come in a couple of days a week, when Olivia finally went back to work. Much to Olivia's surprise, Fitz had announced he wanted the stay at home parent role. While he'd done his best to have an active role in Karen and Jerry lives, he was aware he'd fallen short. He wanted to do his best to have an active role in his younger children's lives. The initial plan was to wait to have children. They wanted to be settled in their DC/Vermont split life before filling the house with more little ones. However, life seemed to have other plans. Once they talked it out, they realized this unexpected change was a blessing. She spent her days either holed up in bed, working with her team via video conference, or sneaking out of the room once Fitz had left for the West Wing so that she could get the nursery ready. They had it painted and all the furniture was set up, but she spent her days putting away the few clothes they had so far since they didn't know the sex yet - the twins took on their parents' stubbornness- and setting up the stuffed animals. =================================================== It was the Thursday after Ella had come home from her weekend away, and Olivia was having an extremely restless day. No matter how she stood, sat or lied , she was extremely uncomfortable. Fitz insisted on calling the doctor once he got back from the Oval, but since her water hadn't broken they were told to just hang tight.

"She said it's normal because you are so close to your due date," Fitz told her as he hung up the phone. "Look how swollen my feet are?" Olivia said as she pointed down.

He grabbed her hand. "Come, I'm going to run a bath and I'll rub your feet for you." They sat in the bathtub on either ends, her feet in Fitz's lap. Olivia's eyes were closed as she relished in the feel of his expert hands on her feet. She couldn't wait until she was back to normal and could enjoy those hands on other parts of her again. She knew he had to be going crazy too with the lack of sex. She had tried to make it up to him by doing things on him, even when he couldn't really reciprocate, but after a while she just became big and awkward. He would end up laughing at her attempts at trying to be sexy and stuff while pleasuring him that she would end up throwing a pillow at his head, and then they would both end up laughing. After the bath Olivia felt slightly better. Fitz and Olivia cuddled in their bed and watched some old movie until she fell to sleep.

Olivia's eyes shot open ,and she gasped.

"What is it?" Fitz said immediately leaning over her. must not have been asleep for long because he was still awake watching TV.

She just looked at him for a moment, not saying anything, trying to take in everything. Then finally she felt it. She was lying in a puddle of water. Her eyes widened. "I think my water broke."

Fitz threw back the blankets and lifted her nightgown slightly, touching her underwear and the sheet between her legs.

"It's definitely wet," he said.

She grabbed her belly and let out a groan as a pain lashed through her.

"I'm calling Dr. Vinay," he said as he rolled over to his nightstand to grab the phone.

While he was on the phone Olivia gently swung her legs off the side of the bed and pulled myself up. She walked over to her dresser, pulling out a clean pair of leggins, a t-shirt, bra and panties and then went into the bathroom to clean herself up.

She had carefully removed her wet nightgown and panties when Fitz walked in. "Dr. Vinay said to meet her at the hospital. I just notified secret service and we'll be on our way shortly ," he told her.

He grabbed a wash cloth out of the drawer. He wet it in the sink with warm water, and helped wipe her down. Then like the amazing man he was, helped he get dressed in her clean clothes. She was sitting on the toilet seat when he finished putting on her flats and he looked at her and saw that she was crying.

"What's wrong? Are you in a lot of pain?" he asked, grabbing either side of her face in his hands, searching her eyes in concern.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

She hadn't been through this before. Logically she knew what to expect to an extent as far as delivery was concerned, with the obvious exception of it being two babies and not one. But more than that she was just suddenly overwhelmed with the fact that she would be leaving the hospital with twins, and then she would be responsible for the lives of four children under the age of 10.

As if he could read her mind, Fitz's worried eyes softened and he took my hands in his. "Livvie we are in this together. You don't have to face this alone. I will be with you every step of the way."

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself so she would calm down. "I know," Liv replied.

And in that second she did know. She would have a lot more responsibility when it came to numbers, but she also knew that she had this amazing man, the person who saved her in ways that she could never even begin to wrap her head around, the person who loved her unconditionally, to help her and be there by her side through it all.

"Okay, let's do this," she told him.

He smiled his loving smile at her and stood up, helping her up with him.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?"

"Yes," she told him. "The contractions aren't close together yet, so I'd like to go in and check on the kids before we leave."

Fitz and Olivia went into all the children's rooms, especially careful not to wake them so he wouldn't get upset over the fact they were leaving in the middle of the night, and by the time they got downstairs, everyone was ready and they were on their way to the hospital.

By the time they arrived to the hospital Olivia 's contractions were getting closer together and she was in real pain. The nurses were already waiting outside for them with a wheelchair in were directed towards her suite in the maternity ward. Soon they were already helping her change and get her into bed. Dr. Vinay came in and examined her and told them she was five centimeters dilated. Olivia was really starting to experience in a lot of pain so the doctor told us she was going to page the anesthesiologist to start Olivia's epidural. When she left the room , Fitz took Liv's hand and let her squeeze the hell out of his as another contraction ripped through her.

There was nothing more that Fitz wanted than to be able to switch places with her so he could bare the pain she was feeling, and for the fact that she was going through it in order to give him the greatest gift in the world, but he knew he couldn't. So instead he just let her squeeze, scream and curse, if that is what she needed to do.

After the epidural was administered Olivia was able to relax a little bit. Dr. Vinay came back in several times to check on her progression, but after they had been there for almost fifteen hours she was not happy with where they were at.

"Ms. Pope, Olivia , I know you want to do this the old fashioned way, but you haven't dilated any more in over eight hours, and I am concerned about your blood pressure."

"But I have a plan. I have to be able to push them out," she said, becoming a little hysterical.

"I understand that , but sometimes with twins it becomes a little trickier. We aren't just talking about delivering one baby, but two," she explained calmly.

"Don't you think I know that!" Olivia snapped. "I think I know how many babies I've been carrying around for the last nine months!"

Fitz dragged his hand down his face, fatigue finally catching up with him. This was more exhausting than being in the situations room, so Fitz could only imagine how she was feeling, but he still felt bad that she was snapping at the doctor. Fitz gave Dr. Vinay an apologetic little smile, which she returned with a wink, letting him know she was very used to this and wasn't offended at all.

"Livvie…Baby, I understand that we had a plan to do this one way, but things change and you are exhausted and we need to think about your well being and the well being of the babies. If your blood pressure is going up that can't be good for you or them. A c-section isn't a bad thing. It's not how we get them out that matters, as long as we get them out safely and they are healthy."

She looked at him, and his heart nearly broke. She looked so little, so young and so scared. A tear slipped down her cheek and she held his gaze. "Okay," she said. "You'll hold my hand?"

"Livvie you couldn't pry my hand out of yours if you tried," Fitz told her as he wiped her tears away and then brushed her curls back out of her face.

"Okay then it's settled," Dr. Vinay announced to the nurses. "We'll go prep the operating room. Get ready to meet your two little ones shortly," she said as she walked out of the room.

One of the nurses brought in a pair of scrubs for him to change into. He quickly put them on and returned to her side.

"Livve you know what the good thing is about having a c-section?" Fitz stroked her curly mane.

Olivia shook her head, failing to see the bright side of having a major surgery.

"It means you feel won't as though not only a crown but the entire throne is trying to make it's way out of you, when the baby's head is crowning," Fitz joked lightly.

Olivia couldn't help but laugh at his corniness."I told you no telling jokes in public without having me vet them first."

"Tom wasn't that a funny joke?" Fitz turned to the agent who was suited up in scrubs as well.

"Sir…" Tom began hesitantly.

"Fitz, don't make Tom lie to protect your ego," Olivia interrupted Tom, and the agent have her a brief smirk.

"I made you laugh, and that's all that matters. You want to pace in circles, because I see the worry in your eyes," he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. " At least I'm not trying to use this dinner at the correspondence dinner."

" I'd never allow that to happen," she sighed heavily " I hope these children get my sense of humor," Olivia declared as she found it in her to laugh again.

"As do I ma'am," Tom piped in with a small chuckle. Olivia appreciated the man's efforts along with Fitz's before they were off. Before she knew it they were off.

Fitz walked alongside the stretcher, holding Olivia's hand, as they made their way towards the O.R. Once they got there it was a flurry of activity. They put a partitioned curtain up so that Olivia couldn't see her stomach as Fitz sat next to her on a stool they provided, still clutching her hand.

"Can you feel that Olivia?" Dr. Vinay asked.

"No… not really. It just feels like pressure."

"Okay good…here we go."

Fitz wasn't sure if he should look. He had witnessed Jerry, Karen and Teddy's birth, but they weren't surgical like this, and he didn't know if seeing his wife cut opened would make him queasy, but finally just saidfuck it and peeked around the curtain to see what was going on.

The doctor had made a small incision and after a few minutes she reached her hand in.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked Fitz.

"She just went in," Fitz told her.

Moments later, after a little bit of maneuvering Fitz saw the top of a head appear.

"I see a head," Fitz told her.

"Oh God," she said. Tears were already streaming down her face. ===================================== He walked out of the maternity ward and into the waiting room where their family had all gathered throughout the eighteen hours that Olivia was in labor. It was close to six in the evening, and Fitz was exhausted, but the joy he was feeling was giving him his second, third, fourth wind.

Abby jumped up first followed by Quinn and the rest of the group.

"Sooooo?" Abby squealed .

"One of each," Fitz responded, a huge smile plastered across his face. "We have one healthy boy and one healthy girl."

All the girls started crying and hugging while the guys clapped, slapped him on the back. Over the years, Olivia's team had also become his friends. They were a family.

"What are their names?" Abby asked as she wiped her face with a tissue. It wasn't the reaction Fitz had been expecting from her.

"I'll let Liv tell you that. I got to tell you the news of their sex, I'll let the one who did all the work tell you their names," Fitz said.

Only a few people at a time could go into the room, so Olivia's father followed Fitz in to the room first. Their relationship had improved over the years. Liv was laying in her bed, a baby in each arm, simply glowing. When she saw her father, she beamed a huge smile. Fitz walked over to her and took one of the twins from her to hold.

Olivia nodded towards the baby he was holding. "We'd like you to meet Christopher James…and Samantha Nicole," she said looking down towards the baby in her arms.

Everyone gathered around and one could tangibly feel the emotion in the room. The women were the first to snatch them away from Olivia and Fitz , and as he watched them meet the little ones for the first time, Fitz swore he even caught Eli and Huck wipe a tear from their eyes.

After everyone had been in to meet the babies, visiting hours were over. Olivia 's team was working on a statement for her personal behalf,outside of the White House. It was arranged that nanny was going to bring the kids by first thing in the morning so they could meet their new siblings.

The hospital suite had been set up for in a cot for Fitz to sleep on but instead Olivia slid over ,and he sat beside her in the bed. He held Samantha when she was done nursing her and then she took Christopher to start feeding him. They sat talking about all the new things they would observe about the twins. Olivia insisted they looked like Fitz, but he could see Olivia's nose and lips. They did have chestnut colored hair and lighter eyes like Fitz, but he was sure they would end up chocolate brown like their momma's .

"What if we mix them up?" Fitz said. "They definitely look exactly alike."

"Then you'll take off their diapers. It's a quick fix. I don't think that'll happen. I can tell who is who," Olivia said as she stared down at Chris who was holding her pinky finger.

Fitz looked down at Samantha who was asleep and content after her meal and smiled. "You're right. We aren't the first parents to have twins, and I can just feel who is who, even if I saw them from the back I think."

Fitz looked up at Olivia and realized she was staring at him. "What?" He asked.

She shook her head slightly and gave him a little smile. "Thank you," she said.

"Thank me?! I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"I know why you say that, and I accept it and I appreciate it, but I need to go back to where this all started. To a day when a woman who was more truthful with me than anyone else in my world , stood up in a room of my subordinate, and called me out on my bullshit and my changed my life in a way I could never have imagined. I don't mean to sound overly dramatic or corny Livvie, but you saved my life. I don't know where I would have ended up if you hadn't walked into my life."

Fitz leaned in and kissed her. "Baby, don't you realize that for everything that you think I have given you, you have given me just as much, if not more, in return. Just because I was "your fixer", your reason to breathe,it doesn't mean you didn't do that for me. I went to that meeting expecting to help some fly boy candidate as a favor for my mentor, but instead I the love of my life. I met you, I met someone who loved me for all my short coming. I met someone who never gave up on our love." A tear slipped down her cheek and he leaned down to kiss her gently again.

Very carefully Fitz lifted his left arm and put it around Olivia's shoulder, pulling her into him. Once she finished nursing Chris, they all sat there in silence; the twins sleeping and Olivia and Fitz just watching them. They both knew that it had taken them a lot to get to this point, a lot of ups and downs,but they had made was the most welcoming thing either of them had ever experienced or expected


End file.
